Singapore - November 2006
Happy November!
I showed up at my J-Economics class with omiyogi (the obligatory return-from-trip gift) and as my professor bit into her cookie, she said, “Singapore, eh? Not really part of Asia”. Well, yes, it is. Southeast Asia specifically. But I know what she’s getting at because a few weeks ago she announced “Japan is not Asia”. (I was waiting for the “it’s East Asia” lecture). But, noooo. Her point was that Japan and Singapore are too westernized to belong to the Asia family. Or maybe that western feeling has something to do with Singapore’s history as a British colony and the post-war American occupation of Japan. Or maybe it’s because my professor is Filipino.
The omiyogi cookies were the shape of the Singapore Merlion; the mascot of the island nation. Yes, a merlion is a lion’s head on a mermaid tail. But it works for this port city. Country. 269 square miles makes it a really small country. My favorite aspect of Singapore is that it is a true blend of cultures. We heard Chinese, Indian and Malaysian spoken. The official language is English, so the translation corner of my brain got a vacation too.
Our primary entertainment was eating. We showed up in Little India more than once. Chinatown was another good stop. But we spent most of our time at street hawker’s booths; a row of food stalls where we could pick and chose our medley of satay’s, curries, chili crab, exotic fruit drinks and something called carrot cake which was a seafood omelet minus the carrot or cake. Singapore is a spotless city, in an uptight, controlled way. Although, I have to admit, it was nice to eat at the friendly neighborhood street vendor with an “A” rating official document hanging from their booth.
I met my Vermont friend and Singapore’s newest resident, Amy Lange, for tea. What fun to meet in, um, almost-Asia. She told me about her new place in a massive apartment complex. The skyscrapers of the city give way to miles and miles of residential buildings. Envisioning a lot of poured concrete, it was great to see that the city and surrounding areas are full of parks, tropical trees and flowers.
We used the MRT subway to cover a good bit of ground and saw the local (controlled) wildlife at a bird park and a very cool night safari. Singapore is just barely north of the equator, with the temperature steady at 85 F with 85% humidity, so the critters were all tropical and beautiful. We also spent a lot of time in the pool.
Eric has blogged the trip in great detail, and my disclaimer is that Dave and I did not buy animal parts in Chinatown. http://www.ericjapaneseexperience.blogspot.com/
Big thanks to our Isahaya-friends, the Bartlett family, Ian, Angela and Stuart, for sharing their week with us in one of their favorite places.
Hope you are all well, happy and healthy,
Love, barbara
Pictures at http://photos.yahoo.com/~iverlink called 2006-Singapore.
I blog on living in Japan at http://iversonjpn.blogspot.com/
I showed up at my J-Economics class with omiyogi (the obligatory return-from-trip gift) and as my professor bit into her cookie, she said, “Singapore, eh? Not really part of Asia”. Well, yes, it is. Southeast Asia specifically. But I know what she’s getting at because a few weeks ago she announced “Japan is not Asia”. (I was waiting for the “it’s East Asia” lecture). But, noooo. Her point was that Japan and Singapore are too westernized to belong to the Asia family. Or maybe that western feeling has something to do with Singapore’s history as a British colony and the post-war American occupation of Japan. Or maybe it’s because my professor is Filipino.
The omiyogi cookies were the shape of the Singapore Merlion; the mascot of the island nation. Yes, a merlion is a lion’s head on a mermaid tail. But it works for this port city. Country. 269 square miles makes it a really small country. My favorite aspect of Singapore is that it is a true blend of cultures. We heard Chinese, Indian and Malaysian spoken. The official language is English, so the translation corner of my brain got a vacation too.
Our primary entertainment was eating. We showed up in Little India more than once. Chinatown was another good stop. But we spent most of our time at street hawker’s booths; a row of food stalls where we could pick and chose our medley of satay’s, curries, chili crab, exotic fruit drinks and something called carrot cake which was a seafood omelet minus the carrot or cake. Singapore is a spotless city, in an uptight, controlled way. Although, I have to admit, it was nice to eat at the friendly neighborhood street vendor with an “A” rating official document hanging from their booth.
I met my Vermont friend and Singapore’s newest resident, Amy Lange, for tea. What fun to meet in, um, almost-Asia. She told me about her new place in a massive apartment complex. The skyscrapers of the city give way to miles and miles of residential buildings. Envisioning a lot of poured concrete, it was great to see that the city and surrounding areas are full of parks, tropical trees and flowers.
We used the MRT subway to cover a good bit of ground and saw the local (controlled) wildlife at a bird park and a very cool night safari. Singapore is just barely north of the equator, with the temperature steady at 85 F with 85% humidity, so the critters were all tropical and beautiful. We also spent a lot of time in the pool.
Eric has blogged the trip in great detail, and my disclaimer is that Dave and I did not buy animal parts in Chinatown. http://www.ericjapaneseexperience.blogspot.com/
Big thanks to our Isahaya-friends, the Bartlett family, Ian, Angela and Stuart, for sharing their week with us in one of their favorite places.
Hope you are all well, happy and healthy,
Love, barbara
Pictures at http://photos.yahoo.com/~iverlink called 2006-Singapore.
I blog on living in Japan at http://iversonjpn.blogspot.com/
posted by Barbara Meehan Iverson at 8:02 PM
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